Your doctor may find an abnormal spot on your breast x-rays (mammograms). This does NOT mean you have cancer but that we need to biopsy it to rule cancer out. The majority of breast abnormalities on mammograms are going to be benign. Symptoms of breast disease include pain, nipple discharge, skin changes, or a noticeable lump on self exam.
My goal is to minimize the anxiety associated with a breast lump. My office will do whatever is possible to accomodate your needs as soon as we can. Call my office to set up an appointment or to just ask a question.
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There are several ways to biopsy a breast mass. If I can feel it, I may perform a fine needle aspiration (FNA). This entails a small needle that is passed through the mass a few times. The cells drawn into the needle are placed on glass slides and sent for analysis. An FNA is performed in my office. This is a good way to get preliminary results prior to another procedure.
An ultrasound core biopsy can be done in my office by me. A larger needle is used to obtain larger amounts of tissue for analysis. This uses a small incision and is relatively painless compared to an open surgical biopsy.
A needle localization biopsy is done on a mass that cannot be felt by the clinician. A needle is placed through the abnormality by a radiologist using either mammographic or ultrasound guidance. I then will take you to surgery and make an incision to remove the tissue surrounding the wire. This is done on rare occasions if a mass cannot be removed by ultrasound or by xray guidance. All biopsy tissue will be analyzed under a microscope.
Stereotactic biopsy is done by a radiologist or me. Under mammography I can "pinpoint" the exact location of the abnormality and then remove it using a tiny incision and a needle.
Each biopsy procedure is tailored to your individual needs. Your referring physician or I can help you with your decision.
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